Play! Pokémon Rules and Regulations Updated, Plus New Functionality Added to Tournament Operations Software

The Play! Pokémon rules and regulations are periodically reviewed to maintain competitive balance in the Championship Series. The documents have been updated to reflect the latest review in spring 2019. Pokémon TCG and video game players and Professors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the latest rules and regulations ahead of their next competition.

We'll continue to follow the events of the season and review the documents at regular intervals. Check back here at Pokemon.com for notices of when documents have been updated.

An updated version of Pokémon's Tournament Operations Manager is now available to all official Organizers. TOM 1.53 makes several changes that could affect events, so Organizers are strongly encouraged to update their software right away. Organizers can download the latest version of the software here.

Major Change:

Players who drop from an event will remain in the standings and eligible for Championship Points. This is in response to feedback frequently received at Regional Championships events. This change means that every player, except those who may have been disqualified, will be in the final standings based on the points earned in the event.

Minor Changes:

The minimum attendance for uploading a tournament is now 4 players. This means players can now receive Play! Points or Championship Points for competing in small store events.

Should players be tied, a head-to-head match is now the final tiebreaker. (The final tiebreaker comes into effect after considering tardiness, opponent's win percentage, and opponent's-opponents' win percentage.) The logic for the final tiebreaker is as follows:

If two players are tied and they played each other, that match determines standing order.

If two players are tied and they did not play each other, the order is random.

If three or more players are tied, the order is random.

Minor changes to text and formatting.